


back in time

by rubyliam



Series: rubiam fics [1]
Category: The Darkest Minds Series - Alexandra Bracken
Genre: F/M, based on an online prompt, im sorry in advance, kinda took it a different way, than it was supposed to go, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 05:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19457320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubyliam/pseuds/rubyliam
Summary: Seeing him again, Ruby didn’t realize how much she had missed him.





	back in time

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on a prompt i found online! like an "enter your otp get a prompt" thing. person a goes back in time to fix something bad they did with person b. enjoy. sorry in advance uhh

Ruby woke up as soon as her body was pulled from the cot. She was still half asleep when someone slammed her against the wall, spitting in her face before hitting her to the wall again. “You want them back so bad? Maybe I’ll knock you out so hard you’ll be able to go back to being in _Black Betty_.” Ruby opened her eyes long enough to see Vida sneering in her face. “But you will always come back here. I will raise hell before you hurt Cate again. You hear me, boo?”

It wasn’t even a full minute before Vida was punching her, the sparks of pain waking Ruby fully. She did it again and Ruby didn’t have time to call for help or tell one of the other girls to get someone before Vida was doing it one more time. “You won’t ruin my family for your little makeshift one of people who you abandoned.”

Ruby attempted to push Vida back, but her three-week training was nothing compared to the years Vida had. Vida only got a tighter grip on Ruby’s sweater, not being careful when she slammed Ruby back to the bed. Her head bumped into the metal bedframe hard and as pain exploded in her head, making her eyes close from the pressure and a migraine start, Ruby lost consciousness as her body fell to the floor.

+++

When she woke up, someone was running a cold compress along her forehead. Ruby expected to find herself in the dormitory or at least in Cate’s room. But looking around, she recognized the pale purple wallpaper, the white dresser, the opposite wall that had a mirror, reflecting Cate and her sitting on the bed.

Sitting up straight, Ruby widened her eyes and pushed back against the mattress. Cate reached a hand out, placing it on Ruby’s. “You’re all right.” She said, “Ruby. You’re going to be fine.”

“What are we doing back here?” Ruby mumbled. “Why are we here?” Her eyes went to Martin, standing across the room and holding a gun. She didn’t look long enough to study the rest of his features, not when she had already seen them, just a few weeks ago.

Or had it only been a dream? Was being at the Children’s League a dream and Vida a girl she had met in camp but forgotten about?

“We’re in a safe house outside of Maryland,” Cate said, making Ruby look back to her.

But her body felt stronger, stealthier than it was weeks ago. Ruby was with the girls in her cabin enough to memorize all their names. None of them were named Vida. Then, she remembered what Vida had said to her when she woke her up. She stayed tense as she asked, “What day is it?”

“Monday, October 28th,” she said.

Suddenly, without any doubt, Ruby knew she had gone back in time. She didn’t know how but she knew it was to fulfill her want to be with Liam, to use her powers to escape the safehouse that day and leave _with him_.

“Lee?” Ruby asked.

“Safe here, too.”

Using the connection that they had with their hands, Ruby reached into her mind and stared into her eyes. “I want to see him. Take me to see Liam.”

Ruby held her breath in hesitation, waiting to see if her power worked. She let the breath go when Cate stood up and simply said, “Follow me.”

+++

Seeing him again, Ruby didn’t realize how much she had missed him. It took all of her might not to run across the room as Cate opened the door. Walking in, Ruby shut it behind her and walked slowly to the bed, ignoring the blue walls around her and the clouds painted on the ceiling. She crawled across the mattress and moving her arms around Liam.

“What are you looking at?” She whispered, even though she knew what it was.

Jack Field’s letter.

Ruby moved to sit beside him, leaning into his side. “You were right.” Ruby closed her eyes at the sound of his voice; the deep southern accent even as he sounded so emotionless. “You were so right. We should have read it. We would have known not to bother.”

She picked up the letter and crumbled it up, throwing it across the room. Liam bowed his head and covered his face, sighing. As she put her hand into her pocket, Ruby hoped Chubs’s letter was still there, magically.

Thankfully, her fingers touched the paper and she pulled it out, watching Liam’s body sag beside hers. “He told me he didn’t write it for them. He wrote it for you. He wanted you to read it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Trust me,” she pushed it towards him, not glancing away when he looked up. “You do. Because when we get out of here, you’ll want something to say when you see him again.”

She braced herself for the anger as Liam dropped his arm from around her shoulders and stood. “Do you really think that if he lives, they’re going to let us see him? Do you think they’re even going to let _us_ stay together?”

“I do think that—”

“That’s not how these people work. They’re going to control our every move, right down to who we see and what we eat.” Liam’s eyes reflected his inner rage. “Trust _me_ , it’ll be some precious piece of luck if we even find out if he’s alive, never mind if they’ve brought him in for training.”

Liam began to pace the room and this time, Ruby stood up after him. She grabbed his arm, turning him back to her and shoving the empty letter into his chest. “Look,” she said with her voice calm.

Once he did, Liam walked back to the bed, losing balance and falling from the shock of it. His forehead fell to Ruby’s shoulder when she sat down next to him and Ruby wrapped her arms around him. They sat that way, again, for a long time and Ruby reveled in the way he felt, in the feeling of his breath against her skin. After being with him for so long, in that stupid van, Ruby didn’t realize how much she missed him. She missed the simple touch of his hands to hers and his presence. How she ever thought she would be able to be without him, she didn’t know. All Ruby knew was that would never leave him again.

“The crazy thing is, I had all of these plans. What we were going to do. All the places I was going to take you. I really wanted you to meet Harry.” The sunlight rays shined softly through the windows. He ran a hand along her arm. “We’ll be okay. We just can’t let them separate us.”

“They won’t.” _Here, Ruby. This is where you change the past._ “Liam, look at me.” She didn’t speak until she saw his blue eyes. “We’re going to get out of here. Right now. I’ll get us out of here.”

“You don’t understand,” he shook his head and his eyes were sad. “They won’t accept that.”

“I don’t care.” Ruby was surprised by the next words that left her lips, because they weren’t part of the script she had prepared on the way to his room. They were, somehow, the words she had said the first time around. “If there’s one good thing that came out of all of this, it’s you. And I’m not letting them separate us or take us to the Children’s League. But if I had to go through all of it again, I would, as long as it meant I’d have you.”

“You really think that?” He kissed her head. “’Cause, frankly, the way I see it, you and me? Inevitable. Let’s say we didn’t get stuck in those god-awful camps—no, just listen. Five minutes, and we’re heading out of here. I’m going to tell you the amazing story of us.”

So, he did, on and on, every word the same as when he said it in reality. Each second went on the same as the last. As Liam spoke, Ruby’s mind slowly changed. Erasing his memories was bad, she knew that. But it was what they needed. They never truly could get away from the League and have Cate and Alban accept that. Cate would continue to search for her and not stop until Ruby was found.

The only difference between Ruby and the League was the one who cared about Liam was her.

It was true that she wanted her friends back, that she wanted to stay with Liam. But that was in a perfect world. Even in this messed up version when she was given the chance to go back and do it over, Ruby couldn’t. Not if she wanted to keep him safe.

“Close your eyes,” Ruby said with her head down so Liam wouldn’t see her cry. “I’m going to finish the story.”

For the second time, bracing herself against the pain of reaching into his mind and the ache of feeling him jerk away, Ruby took the memories of her away. And as he walked down the stairs, Ruby didn’t watch him go.


End file.
